The first day of spring is March 20th (sometimes March 21st), and it is also known as the vernal equinox.
This means it is the exact day separating winter from spring. Actually, to be more precise, it is the first day of spring north of the equator - in the south it is the first day of autumn.

Equinox is a Latin word which means "equal night". This is the time of the year (and there are two days in each year) during which the day and night are of equal length.

Spring is the time of year when winter is ending yet summer has not yet begun. Before long the flowers will bloom and the air will buzz with insects.

Traditionally, spring has been associated with the start of life. This is the time when the earth wakes up from it's sleep (winter) and the world appears to be reborn.

I want one more big-ass snowfall around here before I'll allow the warm temperatures to come in...It's only once every ~9 months that I even get a remote chance to winter rally in the snow...

"I just want to lie in my own crusty filth, eating rancid egg sandwiches, until some unfortunate paramedic has to blow down my door to find my bloated and pasty corpse wedged between the nightstand and mattress stained with Bengay and Robitussin DM." - Greg Gutfeld on sex and seniors"Syphilis does not stay in Vegas. Debt collectors do not stay in Vegas. Dead hookers stay in Vegas, but the guilt stays with you forever." - Bill Schultz

We haven't had much of Winter here, only the last 2 weeks have been wet and cloudy really... weird that, the Summer feels just so so so not so long back, and I pine for it, cos it was the best Summer of my life. Roll on this Summer

Spring? No need. I have a perfectly fine balcony that I can go out and relax on and bask in the sun right now... so long as I'm dressed in snow pants, gloves, hat, scarf, boots, and a heavy winter coat (although I might have to move some snow before I can use the chair's cup holder).

Yesterday was warm enough (55) that a half dozen squirrels woke up and started digging up the peanuts they buried in my flower beds. It was raining like hell, but warm like spring.

It was kinda funny to see the sneak peak of the next generation of squirrels, but SQUIRRELZILLA, the rottweiler killer, only seems to be present in his offspring.

The acrobatics of squirrels awakened for a mid winter snack was pretty amusing as they darted over houses and played in the trees. They were unmolested by the neighborhood cats that weren't tricked into thinking it was warm enough to stir from the warm spots their humans have provided.

On to February, which almost never provides a storm, but is usually bitterly cold. The squirrels will figure out it isn't really spring. They'll cease to entertain a coffee drinker and a lady rottweiler and settle back in for the rest of their winter sleep.

It's already spring for me, being a member of the Royal 21sters, even though it's been below zero for awhile.

The royal order of the 21sters is a small (but growing!) band of rebels who have shunned the normal definitions of the seasons in favor of a longer summer and autumn. We define the Winter Solstice/shortest day/December 21st as the last day of winter. Because the days begin getting longer on December 22nd, this is seen as an encouraging sign and the first step towards summer, thus, the 1st day of spring!

Likewise, Summer ends on the Summer Solstice/longest day of the year/June 21st, and the next day - June 22nd is seen as the first step down that long, beautiful autumnal path towards winter.

Also, this definition makes for a very warm 1st half of autumn (July and August)!

Winter is a bleak affair, so it is minimized. Itâ€™s limits have been set to the darkest days from November through December 21st only!

And Spring is a short, but encouraging stretch leading into to another long, lingering summer!

We freely admit that this is nothing more than psychological trickery to carry us through the coldest days of what others call â€œwinterâ€ but we donâ€™t care - it works for us.

Spring: December 22nd through the the Super Bowl (early to mid-January).
Summer: The day after the super bowl through June 21st.
Autumn: June 22nd through November 1st
Winter: November 1st through December 21st (Nice and short!)

For all others, winter has just begun. For us, it has just ended! Welcome, Spring, for your short, but encouraging reign!

There are many days when I look up at the sun and wish I could feel it's warmth upon my face. When the snow blows thick and the wet chills my bones and no matter how high the fire gets I still can't feel my toes, I look at the stars and wish for the twilight of Summer.

But then sometimes I can do nothing but cherish the dead season, and sometimes it's because no one else really even tries to enjoy it. When the snow lays high on the ground and still falls silently from the sky, do yourself a favor and put on some warm clothes and go for a walk.
Listen to the quiet of snow, the way it muffles the sound of everything. If you can, venture into a forest where the trees roots lay exposed and snow never makes it to the bed of leaves. It's eerie and candid and fucking spectacular.

Walk down a city street in a blizzard, taking particular note how the sodium lights shine the world in yellow light, or the way faces are red and bleary and somehow still beautiful. Go to a coffee shop and sit near the window, watching the bundled masses run across the streets, knocking their shoes off before they enter. Drink a hot chocolate and make a snow angel.

There is beauty in all seasons, even Winter.

PS: I'm with Monkey Rum, I've been celebrating Winter Solstice for years.

50s today, may have been above 60 again. No winter to be found. Just a lot of rain today, to the point where all after-school stuff was cancelled: games, practices, rehearsals, homework help and intervention programs, etc. In the mountains we have a river, stream, or creek in each between-mountain valley. When it rains heavily, those waterways flood and wash out all the dirt roads where most of our kids live or make them too deep for driving.

Hi, I'm pleased to tell you no lies
There's something you can't buy
And to your sorrow it couldn't come the gift

You had for Christmas day

I'm moving crosscurrent of time
As you keep asking why
You've got to take account of quite a nuisance
You're not here to stay

Wham!
As for me, guys
I'm about to get old tram
Going from anywhere to any distant point
People outside
Even though I'm one of them
In my universe our lines always be disjoint

Through years and days I'm travelling to and from the glare
I had gone too far
I'd been tramping high and low
Though all this time
I stood still by the lake
Where some ice bound bots were sleeping beneath the snow